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LOT 1451
Western Asiatic Bronze Arrowhead Collection
19TH-6TH CENTURY B.C.
1 - 3 in. (176 grams total, 25-77 mm).
Including triangular, leaf-shaped, barbed, paddle-shaped with a flat, comparatively wide mid-rib, and others. [27]
ProvenanceEx London art market, 1980-1990s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf. for similar arrow-points Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, in Russian, (plate XLIII, nos.26-27, 92-93).
FootnotesSome of the represented arrowheads (paddle-shaped) were typical of the Old Babylonian Empire. The shoulders were pronounced and the arrowhead had a rectangular-section tapering tang. This simple form was popular throughout and such items are comparatively common finds in the Holy Land.
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AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Integral Hilted Bronze Short Sword
Late 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
With a broad, lentoid-section flat blade, rounded tip, sloping sides, well marked shoulders with wide but short tang. 713 grams, 43.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The sword finds similarity with a one from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. This is the most primitive form of dagger, consisting of a simple, pointed blade having slightly convex outline shoulders sloping to a short tang which has no rivets, and was probably hafted to wood with bitumen. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Piriform in profile with domed mouth and impressed motifs to the shoulder; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 400 grams, 10.5 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.
Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Luristan Bronze Short Sword
2nd-1st millennium B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £468
With tapering, double-edged triangular blade and central midrib; crescent-shaped, tri-lobed guard at the shoulder; restored decorated cylindrical hilt with domed stone pommel. 878 grams, 54.2 cm
From a North West London collection; previously acquired in the 1980s.
